BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China's consumer price index rose 3.0% in May from the same month a year earlier, slower than April's 3.4% rise, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Saturday.

The rise in the inflation gauge undershot the median 3.2% gain forecast by 15 economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

From a month earlier, the CPI declined 0.3% in May. In April, the index dropped 0.1%.

-By Aaron Back, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 8400-7701; aaron.back@dowjones.com